Washington, DC – In a move reflecting the peak of its “maximum pressure” campaign, the United States today announced a package of severe financial and punitive measures aimed at cutting off funding to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The package includes offering substantial financial rewards and imposing sanctions on leaders in the regime’s energy sector.
Huge reward for intelligence information
The U.S. State Department’s Rewards for Justice program has announced a reward of up to $15 million for any intelligence or technical information that leads to the disruption of the financial mechanisms and networks of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its various branches. This initiative aims to penetrate the complex financial system that Tehran relies on to fund its transnational military activities.
Strike at oil smuggling networks
Concurrently with the reward, Washington imposed sanctions on an international network involved in selling and shipping Iranian oil to foreign buyers on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The sanctions also targeted three high-ranking officials at the Shahid Pourjafari Oil Headquarters for overseeing these illicit operations. The US administration asserted that these oil revenues belong to the Iranian people. Iranians are suffering from a severe economic crisis due to the regime’s prioritization of funding militias and weapons programs over meeting the basic needs of its citizens.
“Economic Rage” campaign
These measures are part of an additional package under the umbrella of the “Economic Rage” campaign. This campaign aims to prevent the Iranian regime from accessing the resources that would allow it to launch attacks on U.S. and allied forces or destabilize the region. Washington emphasized that it will continue to tighten the noose on all sources of illicit funding that support Iran’s “terrorist proxies” in the region.
With this announcement, the economic confrontation enters a new phase of both field and financial pursuit. Through its “Rewards for Justice” program, Washington seeks to build a technical database that will eliminate the Revolutionary Guard’s ability to circumvent international sanctions. This comes at a time of unprecedented military and security tensions in the region.
